ii. The mascot was launched during a
conference on the National Intellectual Property Rights Policy in New Delhi.

iii. The first and foremost objective
of the Policy is “IPR Awareness: Outreach and Promotion”, aimed at raising
awareness on IPR for school children to nurture creativity and the ability to
innovate from a very young age.

HIMACHAL GOVT
SANCTIONS RS 25 CR FOR RENOVATING BANTONY CASTLE

i. The Himachal Pradesh government will
spend 25 crore rupees on renovating and developing the historic British Raj
'Bantony Castle Estate as a major tourist attraction.

ii. The Bantony Castle, owned by a
business family and housing the state police headquarters, was acquired by the
government for over 27 crores two years ago.

i. The Union Environment Ministry
launched the Green Skill Development Programmewith an aim to train over 5.5 lakh workers in environment and forest
sectors in the country.

ii. Union Environment Minister Harsh
Vardhan also launched a related mobile app ‘GSDP-ENVIS’ to boost employability
and entrepreneurship of the youth in the country.

SCO CULTURAL
MINISTERS’ MEETING HELD IN SANYA, CHINA

i. The Minister of State for Culture,
Dr Mahesh Sharma led the Indian delegation to the 15th Meeting of the Cultural
Ministers of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Member States held in Sanya,
China.

ii.India participated for the first
time at the Meeting ofCultural
Ministers of the SCO.

ii. India became a full member of the
Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in June 2017 during the SCO Heads of
State Summit in Astana, Kazakhstan.

GUATEMALA BECOMES
SECOND COUNTRY TO OPEN JERUSALEM EMBASSY

i. Guatemala has opened an embassy in
Jerusalem two days after the U.S. moved its embassy to the contested capital
city.

ii. Israeli troops opened fire on
Palestinian protesters after President Trump’s pledge to move the U.S. Embassy
from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem was fulfilled, taking tensions between Israel and
Palestine to boiling point.

MOS EXTERNAL
AFFAIRS GENERAL VK SINGH VISITS NORTH KOREA

i. Minister of State for External
Affairs General VK Singh visits North Korea, the first high-level visit from
India in 20 years.

ii. General VK Singh held talks with
his North Korean counterpart and a host of other leaders.

1ST PARA-NATIONAL
GAMES TO BE HELD UNDER KHELO INDIA SCHEME

i. The inaugural National Para Games,
on the lines of National Games for able-bodied athletes, will be held under the
Khelo India Scheme in June-July 2018 in Bengaluru.

ii. The Games will be held for the age
group of 16 to 40 (men and women) in 10 disciplines viz. para athletics,
badminton, chess, blind judo, para powerlifting, shooting para-sport,
para-swimming, table tennis, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair fencing.

OBJECTIVE QUESTIONS BASED ON TODAY’S NEWS

Q1.
THE HIMACHAL PRADESH GOVERNMENT HAD ANNOUNCED TO SANCTION THE AMOUNT OF
____________ ON RENOVATING AND DEVELOPING THE HISTORIC BRITISH RAJ 'BANTONY
CASTLE ESTATE AS A MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTION.

Q3.
THE UNION ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY LAUNCHED THE GSDP WITH AN AIM TO TRAIN OVER 5.5
LAKH WORKERS IN ENVIRONMENT AND FOREST SECTORS IN THE COUNTRY. GSDP STANDS FOR
______________.

(a) Green Skill Deployment Programme

(b) Green Skill Designeted Programme

(c) Green Skill Designed Programme

(d) Green Skill Development Programme

Q4.
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR CULTURE, DR MAHESH SHARMA LED THE INDIAN DELEGATION
TO THE 15TH MEETING OF THE CULTURAL MINISTERS OF THE SHANGHAI COOPERATION
ORGANIZATION (SCO) MEMBERSTATES HELD RECENTLY IN ___________.